Need a very good amp for my Focal sub

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markcars

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Joined: December 11, 2002

Location: New York, United States

Posted: July 06, 2004 at 9:00 AM / IP Logged

During the last 2 days, I constructed a sealed box to exact specs from the Focal website. I put in my New Focal Utopia 27WX but the sound was not as great as I was expecting. I think my MRD-M500 needs to be replaced, so my question is, what is a very good subwoofer amp I need, to push this new sub for real good sound? I just have a few requirements.

1. I want very good SQ (as best as technology can)

2. My Focal sub is 3 ohm stable (as per specs), so amp needs to be able to handle this.

3. I am willing to drop extra $ for better Quality (even if it causes me to skip lunch a few days)

4. I need only between 100 to 600 watt max, I am not in search of a 2000 watt system to shatter my rear-windshield and go deaf meanwhile.

Thanks a lot in advance!

Steven Kephart

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Joined: November 06, 2003

Location: Oregon, United States

Posted: July 06, 2004 at 10:36 AM / IP Logged

I don't know if you are going to get a huge SQ difference by changing amps. My guess is that the problem either lies in the sub, or enclosure. What size enclosure did you use?

Honestly, I think you might have made the mistake of thinking that the most expensive speaker will give you the best performance. And from looking at those specs, I am not too impressed. For one thing, the Fs is way too high. This may be causing you to not have enough low end extention. You can make the enclosure larger to get some of that back, but you sacrifice Qtc. From hearing you aren't happy with the driver, if you can I suggest returning the sub and choosing a better one suited for what you are doing. I recomend you checking out the W7, or equivilant for the best SQ.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

kfr01

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Posted: July 06, 2004 at 10:53 AM / IP Logged

Have you tried moving it around in the trunk? Do you have a thick back seat the bass needs to get through? When I first hooked up my sub (not in the same league as your Focal, but still considered a decent sub) I was disappointed. I did three things and it made a HUGE difference in the volume, accuracy, and low frequency extension.

1) Took out the rear deck 6x9 speakers so the bass could get into the main cabin

2) Dynamatted the trunk

and last but not least: played around w/ the position. This made the largest improvement by far. I originally had the sub firing toward the rear of the trunk with the back of the box pressed against the seat. When I moved it forward a couple feet and angled the subwoofer slightly the sub came to life. Its kinda in the middle of one side of my trunk now, but it sounds awesome and I can move the box if I need to put crap in my trunk.

New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

Steven Kephart

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Location: Oregon, United States

Posted: July 06, 2004 at 10:55 AM / IP Logged

BTW if anyone is interested, Here's a link to the parameters on the driver: http://www.focal.tm.fr/gb/car/utopia/27wx.htm

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

markcars

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Joined: December 11, 2002

Location: New York, United States

Posted: July 06, 2004 at 10:55 AM / IP Logged

Here are the spec sheets and recommended sizes for box dimentions:

Box shape and size Need a very good amp for my Focal sub -- posted image.

Parameters:

I built a closed enclosure and used the 40L recommendation to build my box. When I tested this speaker on my home system, the sound was amazingy improved; I could hear the difference. In the car it is a different story(and different amp).

I am considering JL, JBL, Planet Audio, MB Quart etc but don't know which would be most accurate in bass reproduction.

customsuburb

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Location: United States

Posted: July 06, 2004 at 10:58 AM / IP Logged

The MRD-M500 is an excellent amp. If a different box dosn't work then I would try a 10" JL W7 or a 10" Brahama.

markcars

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Joined: December 11, 2002

Location: New York, United States

Posted: July 06, 2004 at 11:06 AM / IP Logged

Could it be possible that my MRD-M500 has a defect? OR could it also be possible that my Alpine CDA-9811 HU has a problem on its sub-outputs. Is there an easy way to test/check which one is the culprit, the HU or Sub-AMp?

kfr01

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Joined: April 30, 2003

Posted: July 06, 2004 at 11:09 AM / IP Logged

Can you describe the sound you're hearing? What don't you like about it?

New Project: 2003 Pathfinder

markcars

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Joined: December 11, 2002

Location: New York, United States

Posted: July 06, 2004 at 11:19 AM / IP Logged

It is not smooth/clean such as hearing a very low note nice and pleasing, but too "heavy" and boomy, almost like distorted but not distorted. This same speaker sounded so good with my home stereo that I was definitely pleased with the sub. I could even see the cone excursion and hear absolutely no distortion but clean/smooth pleasing bass whether the volume was low or high. In the car, it does not do justice to its name. Even my Altec Lansing Computer speakers with a tiny sub of just 4 inches, sounds a lot(I said lot) better.

DYohn

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Posted: July 06, 2004 at 11:28 AM / IP Logged

I agree that the tuning frequency seems very high at around 40Hz. If the sound is boomy, I suggest your enclosure is too small. Did you use polyfill inside it? If not, add at least 1 lb per cu ft which will cause the woofer to perform as if the enclosure is 10% to 40% larger and will extend the low frequncy response. The Alpine amp you are using is a fine amplifier, by the way, as long as it is set up properly. There are always "better" ones, if you like, but I'd bet it's the enclosure or the placement in your vehicle, or both. What's the low-pass crossover frequency, and are you using a "subsonic" high-pass filter?

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